JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Rescuers officials say they’ve managed to save a 9-foot-long manatee that had managed to get stuck in a drainage pipe running beneath a Jacksonville neighborhood.
The Florida Times-Union reports that a gathered crowd cheered Wednesday afternoon following the five-hour effort. The 1,000-pound sea cow was lifted into the back of a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission manatee rescue unit and taken to Orlando’s SeaWorld for treatment and rehabilitation.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department helped dig a trench and carve out a segment of the pipe. They were called Wednesday morning after a paving crew spotted the animal through a grate.
Officials weren’t sure where the manatee got into the pipe system, but he apparently swam in on his own and then couldn’t turn around to get out.
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